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Fixing Your Patchy Lawn This Fall = Lush Grass Next Spring
by Megan Cherry

Description: Tips for repairing a patchy lawn. Prepare for more beautiful grass for next year!

Most homeowners do not think about rejuvenating their patchy yard in the fall but in the fall the conditions are perfect for new grass seed. First of all the young grass seed is not competing with weeds like in the spring, fall temperature is good for seed germination, and with usually good rainfall it is a perfect time to repair your yard.

Most lawns suffer from having compacted soil. This can be easily remedied by the use of a core aerator. The core aerator penetrates the soil and brings up small pieces of soil. The holes left over allow oxygen and water to get to the roots of the grass. It may be a good idea to go ahead and do your entire lawn not just the affected area. A rule of thumb...it is a good idea to do this once a year. You can rent a core aerator at most tool rental stores, and most landscaping companies offer this service. Once the soil has been prepared to allow the cores to dry for day or two they will be much easier to rake into the soil if they are dry.

The next step is actually spreading the grass seed. Depending on the area that you are replanting you can use either a handheld spreader or a much larger broadcast spreader. If you do not have one they again can be rented at most any tool store. The trick to spreading grass seed is to get even coverage. In order to accomplish this it is a best practice to apply the grass seed in two passes use the setting on your broadcast broader and apply it half the recommended rate in one direction and then apply in a perpendicular direction the other half of the seed. This should allow proper coverage.

The next step is to broadcast a thin layer of topsoil over the grass seed if you're only doing a small area you can simply pick up a few bags of topsoil--if you are doing a larger area you can have topsoil delivered by the yard. It usually runs in the $30.00 per yard range. You'll want to carefully rake out the top soil and cover the grass seed to approximately 1/4 in. deep. This will ensure good seed to ground contact and allow the seed to sprout quickly.

Then you'll need to water the new grass seed twice per day until that grass sprouts. Once the grass sprouts you still need to water the grass at least once per day. After the new grass has reached 3 in. tall you can begin mowing the grass and reduce the amount of watering.

Megan Cherry writes for http://www.pegandrail.com